Separation of Hearts
by Deidamia
Summary: Katniss and Cato had nothing in common except the need to survive and the need to win. They were both fighters and in the end there could only be one victor. Cato/Katniss
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything Hunger Games related._

**Separation of Hearts**

_**Prologue**_

"_Primrose Everdeen."_

He frowned at the name as the camera zoomed towards a skinny eleven-year-old girl, a painless shocked expression slowly etched onto her face. She was just a child, an easy prey he observed as he watched her body rack with sobs as she slowly made her way towards the stage. He turned his back lifting his shirt over his head, which was slicked with sweat after a day of training. District twelve was always weak. A bunch of coal miners populated with starved children and dying adults. No one considered them a threat especially not him. He had trained all his life for this, the glory, the pride, the victory and most of all the power. It's all he's ever known, all that he's ever wanted and nothing will stop him.

"_NO, I volunteer! I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"_

He whipped his head back in time to see a girl running towards the child hugging her protectively. _"Well, now this just got interesting," _he thought as he sat down on the edge of his bed grabbing the remote to turn on the volume a little bit louder. Since the birth of the Hunger Games he could not remember anyone from district twelve volunteer as a tribute. In fact it was a bit amusing to see the events unfold in front of him. He narrowed his eyes as they get a close up of the girl – medium build, a bit on the scrawny side but what else could you expect from a place where you can barely feed yourself. She had brown hair, which was neatly tied up in a braid that fell on her back. Her face showed a mixture of determination, reluctance and most of all fear. That definitely piqued his interest, those steel grey eyes showed fear and as much as she tried to hide it he can see right through them.

"_Fool,"_ his mind spat as he watched her walk on stage next to the eccentric Effie Trinket who looked like she would burst from the non-existent excitement about having a first volunteer in district twelve history. He couldn't help but keep his eyes on her, the way she walked and the frightened look she gave the crowd. He had been watching district reaping's all day to assess and observe his opponents. So far none of them were a threat or close to being interesting except this Katniss. The fact that she volunteered to die by his hands ignited a carnal desire to overpower her.

It unnerved him that her eyes resembled his. Sure the color and shapes were different but inside the pupil were the need to survive and the want to win. He would enjoy slicing her throat and watching the fire in her eyes die out. Turning the TV off, he made his way to towards the window and looked up against the sky. Ironically the sunset ignited the sky in a fiery red and orange hue, which reminded him of the bloodshed that would come. It would only be a matter of a couple of days. He licked his lips slowly anticipating the moment and smiled for the first time in years.

"_Katniss Everdeen, may the odds be __**ever**__ in your favor…until I find you."_


	2. Challenges

**Author's Note:** I haven't written anything in years so pardoned some grammatical errors or lack of imagination – it's like learning to ride a bike all over again. Thank you for those who showed interest in this story. I will just let everyone know that this story will take some time to develop; I truly dislike stories that seem to rush the romance or seem unrealistic.

**Separation of Hearts**

Chapter One

_Challenges_

As the train started to gather speed and pull away from the station, Katniss stared out the window trying to memorize everything that was fading before her. It pained her to leave but it killed her knowing she might never see her home again. It look everything in her power not to wrench the door wide open and jump out until she caught a glimpse of a lone figure watching in the distance from the station. Gale.

The Hob, the woods, Greasy Sae's wild dog stews, Prim's laughter, her father's shirt and her lonely mother, everything assaulted her mind at once and it felt like she was on the brink of dying. She bit her lip down to stop crying out loud. "_You have to stop being weak,"_ she told herself taking in a huge breath and started to compose herself mentally before entering the main corridor of the train. She didn't know how long she stood there, breathing in slowly staring out that window which no longer showed anything but the passing landscapes unfamiliar to her. Effie Trinket would be waiting for her so would Haymitch Abernathy - her mentor for the games. She had seen him in town a couple of times, always in a drunken stupor and throwing cash like it meant nothing. How he had won the Game's was something she could never fathom. Just as she was about to turn the knob of the door, her heart started pummeling again when she realized there would be another person in the room.

_Peeta Mellark. _

Of all the boys that could have been picked as tributes, why him? No one would volunteer for him; he was the baker's son. He didn't know what it felt like to feel hollow. He would never know the debt of gratitude she owed him. A loaf of burnt bread was all that saved her from giving up and dying on that mud on the grey rainy hollow day. She owed Peeta her life and yet she knew when the time comes she would not hesitate to kill him. He gave her hope to save Prim and her mother and her survival meant theirs. The guilt she can handle.

Capitol was just outside the window. Under the mass buildings and enigmatic colors Katniss stared into the eyes of the citizens who were cheering as their train rolled by towards the station. They were cheering for her to die and she let that sank in while watching Peeta smile and even blow kisses. It disgusted her at first but realization hit her whether Peeta knew it or not he was playing smart. Sponsors were the key to survival. The people outside were her chance of living and at the same time they held her life in the palm of their hands and it all depended on how big her smile was. This made Peeta dangerous a lot more dangerous than he let on. She couldn't trust herself to think of him as an ally.

* * *

She started to feel claustrophobic as a swarm of people circled her. Flavius, Octavia and Venia - her prep team with Cinna whom she was to meet with later until the prepping was done. Katniss stood awkwardly in the middle of the lobby as they assessed the extent of damage they needed to fix.

"_Do I look that damaged?"_ She wondered staring at her broken dirt ridden nails. She saw from the corner of her eyes that they started to walk and followed them. Subconsciously she started to try to take the dirt out of her nails when suddenly she smacked into a wall and began to fall backwards. She closed her eyes waiting for the impact but felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist causing her eyes to jerk open quickly. The wall turned out to be human, a very tall, big, muscular human.

"You should be careful where you walk," he pulls her weight so that she was standing on her two feet. She was about to thank him when the intensity of his eyes bore into her own. They were ocean blue, the bluest she had ever seen since children back home rarely had any vibrant colors in their eyes due to the genetics of the district. She wanted to say something; anything but instead she just stared into his eyes due to the lack of words coming out of her mouth.

"Thank.-" She began to say when suddenly Haymitch grabbed her hand and lead her away towards the elevator. She looked at Haymitch who began hooting at Venia to hold the doors for them and then back at the boy who was watching them. He smirked at her noticing that she hadn't torn her eyes away. One question kept showing up on her face as he continued to hold her stare, _"who are you?"_

Cato began to replay the moment in his head and laughed out loud causing a few people around him to star and whisper. _"So that was Katniss."_ He was going to have some fun.

* * *

He rolled his eyes as he continued to hear Clove's constant screeching towards the stylists on how their costumes looked for the opening night ceremony.

"This is the best you can come up with?" She seethed as she snatched the fabric out of the poor girls' hands and started to rip it into shreds covering the living room floor. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw their mentor Brutus get up to come towards the commotion and decided to quietly slip into the elevator for some much needed quietness. Sure Clove was deadly but she could be equally annoying with the constant whining and child like outbursts. He pushed the button randomly and watched the doors close while contemplating on the events that stretched today. He hated the pampering and prepping part of the games though Clove would definitely disagree. Glancing at the glass mirror in front of him, he couldn't help but admire the job the stylist did. His hair was cut shorter than usual which he preferred since he knew his hair would get in the way when the games started if it were longer. His face and body was clean of every scar caused by punches and blunt sword hilts during training back at the academy. He couldn't help but look like a stranger, naked to the world. The scars protected him, it reminded him of all the sweat and blood that was put into his training and it served to intimidate the others.

District two always had an advantage when it came to the Games. They had a little bit more freedom than the rest of the tributes and were always the sponsor's first choice pick. Yet they were always quick to remind the districts that despite favoritism, Capitol owned them just like every other district. He found himself on the roof of the training center. Only a few people were allowed to be here, it was a quite oasis looking over the city. He didn't quite expect it to be this large but then again he was in Capitol. Cato expected to be in the roof alone when a lone figure on his right catches his eyes. 'Katniss.' He knew immediately from the way she stood. He had already seen how all the other tributes looked like from their reaping.

He nears her slowly making sure that his footsteps were quiet and light as not to attract her to his oncoming presence. The moment that he was an arm length away, he caught the shift in her body and saw her fist swinging out to meet his face.

He ducked quickly to avoid the blow - shocked that she had head him when he came back up. He was relieved when he noticed that there were only two lights in the roof, which masked his fury and embarrassment, no one ever heard him. _'She has sharp ears,' _he mentally noted.

"I didn't think you wanted to hit me so badly when I saved you from falling." He replied before Katniss had a chance to retaliate again. He could see her shoulders visibly relax at the sound of his voice while he made his way towards her again.

"It's you." She looked surprised to see him again so soon. She had wanted to ask Haymitch who the boy was but the prep team had a different plan which including the stripping of almost everything on her body.

Cato half smiled leaning against the railing. "It's me." The night and lack of artificial lights gave him the chance to observe her without being noticed. She looked different from what he remembered from the reaping. Her skin seemed to glow healthier making her look stronger and fiercer. Instead of a sick starved tribute, they had given him a challenge. Her.

"I'm Katniss from District Twelve," she introduced herself as she joined next to him looking at the citizens below. There was a moment of silence until realization began to draw on Cato, _'she doesn't know who I am…' _he clenched his fists in the darkness, _'how the fuck doesn't she know who her biggest enemy is!' _It takes him a moment to calm down, _'I should snap her neck for being this stupid,'_ but instead replies, "Well Katniss, my name is Von. I'm from District Eight."

She relaxes once again, "For a second I thought you were one of the careers because of your size."

He raised an eyebrow to that comment, "what's wrong with being a career?"

"You've got to be kidding me," she scoffed shaking her head lightly, "they are blood thirsty monsters."

Here comes the anger again. He turns his head slightly away from her, "And why do you say that?" He had to choose his words carefully or this little mind game would already ended.

"They volunteer to kill, they feel no remorse like it's a pride to win these Games," she replied without hesitation_. "Idiot girl. You know nothing."_

"Didn't you volunteer?" The question silences her knowing he had hit a weak spot.

"I'm different."

"How so?"

Her eyes slowly rise to meet his again, "I have people to protect, and I have a real purpose for volunteering. "

It took every ounce of patience Cato had to calm himself down again. This little girl thinks she was better than him. HIM.

"And you think they have no real purpose? That they enjoy killing for the sake of pleasure?" He stopped looking back at her smiling, "I think your right, but this just made me realize that that you will lose."

Katniss stepped back contemplating to hit the boy or not. "And why do you think I'll lose?"

She watched him as he began to look up at the stars, "Because once that signal starts, once we are in the arena and the bloodbath starts you wont be able to kill anyone because you wont be able to enjoy it. It's not in your nature. You won't survive a night." He replied coolly not bothering to look at her expression. Instead he waited for her to talk again.

'_He's infuriating! How dare he, once I get a bow I'll lock an arrow to your eye's_,' She wanted him to go away because the words he just said came back to replay in the mind over and over again. She didn't want to face it or even accept the remote possibility of it. She never killed anyone before and if the moment came could she force herself to take a human life?

"Do you think you will be able to kill?" Cato asked watching her face battle to force out the right answer. _'And here I thought you were a fighter.'_

She closed her eyes remembering Prim, her little duck waiting for her to come back home. After what felt like an eternity, he was about to walk away from her to head back to his room when she finally answered.

"Yes."

He saw that fire again in her eyes again and it made his heart race a little at the excitement. He had to get out of her before he started the game tonight instead of a week from now. Turning his back on the girl without a word, Cato pressed the elevator button and steps inside before he turns to face her again. Surprisingly she was still looking at him.

"Prove me wrong then." He said loud enough so she could hear before the doors closed leaving the girl alone to contemplate on the words left behind.

* * *

Thank you for reading my story once again. I like to skip a few stuff from the book since it's been overplayed a lot in other stories. Please let me know if you like my story or not or if I need to improve on anything.


End file.
